The young up and coming MC talks about future releases, influences and his style of rhyme. Oh, and collaborations with Aspects and Blade.

Introduce yourself to your public.

Alright people, the name’s Nucleuz. I’m half Iraqi, half Armenian and was born in Baghdad but came here when I was 5. Right now I reside in Bristol. I’ve been rapping for 3 years and producing two, but only started getting really serious about this last year!

Which artists and producers in UK hip-hop do you look up to as role models, or someone you’d like to reach the same levels as?

Producer wise, I look up to Lewis Parker definitely. His drums are genius to say the least and the way he brings the LP sound and makes you know it’s him next time on another tune is Timbaland standard!! People I look up to are definitely: Yungun for his – “damn I wish I said that” – sorta rhymes, Life for his brilliance in his freestyling and punch lines, Blade for his on stage enthusiasm and crowd interaction, Tommy Evans for being a seemingly real MC. Not forgetting Aspects cos they kick ass! More underground, I’m really feelin Salvo – bloody genius and his producer brother 184, cant get enough of em. Also, Pedigree chumps are hilarious; heard a few snippets from their upcoming EP and they’re heavy.

Your debut 12” is dropping at the end of the year. What can we expect to hear when it finally happens?

You can expect to hear some very jiggy undergroundish! Basically there’s a lot of SHIT in the underground scene cos they wanna keep it “underground” and don’t “wanna sample” cos its “against their principles” and simply got people who have no idea about hip hop or good music. I tried listening to what people like about music, and incorporated it with what I believe about Hip Hop. What I came up with is some very Funk orientated beats with funny, very real lyrics showcasing who I am as a person. You can be sure you’ll be dancing around in your bedroom once you slap it on! Blade will be dropping a verse on a track called “No1’s better” – a joke track takin da piss outta people who reckon they’re heavy but not. Probe Mantis and El Eye from Aspects should also be dropping some verses, if they ever get back to my txt’s and phone calls! And finally my cousin from Canada dropped a verse on an extremely funny, addictive tune named “Piece b4 Family” I’ll leave you guys to imagine the tune hahaha…..

There’s quite a few up and coming young rappers and there’s a few that sound pretty similar. What’d you say is the trademark to your rapping?

Whats your ambitions for the bigger picture of your career in hip-hop? Where do you see yourself in a few years?

OK, UK hip hop or the way I’m thinking of it has no money, but getting some on the way? Wouldn’t mind! I’m not really money minded, so basically I plan to make sure everything I do is new so that’s interesting, and that’s what I want to do, enjoy it. It doesn’t matter where I am in a few years. Career wise I want to be a few years into my medicine course!!

Are you shopping for a contract or are you going to go the independent route?

For this EP I want to go the independent route. I don’t know about the future when it comes to this. So support the cause when my EP comes out!

What kind of form do your lyrics come in? Lots of punch lines, or deep political stuff, or humour, or all of that?

I’m quite political cos I’m quite that way minded, but don’t talk about politics wid me in real life, it pisses me off cos I get angry about all the things that’s wrong with world caused be devious politics. I’ve become more humorous over the years cos I’ve realised its a good medium to convey your message. But as stated earlier, my rhyming isn’t ya usual kind of rhymin (normally). It kinda flows over the beat without stoppin!